The Story of Zenaj and Mahari,
son of Hawache.
Zenaj was a very rich and
mighty man, and in conformity with his mightiness, in order that he,
when judging at the council place, should not have to see the man
(4) and his breath should not reach to him, he let a hole be bored
in the stone(5) and used to lay his ear to this hole. And the man
who spoke with him stood on the other side of the stone. The bored
stone remains even to this very day. And they call the descendants
of the man for a surname: »Sons of Tarkoj»(6).
Mahari, son of Hawache, used to
give the tongues (7) to Zenaj. One time, when each one of them had
moved down to the lowland with his village, Mahari's son died, and
(his father) slaughtered
Footnotes
(1) Bet-Abrehe is divided into
several branches. The principal ones are: 'Ad-Hafarom, 'Ad-Gäbres,
'Ad-'Ajlaj and 'Ad-Bula. There are also some sma'ller enes, such as
'Ad-Zawlaj, Bet-Abbaza, 'Ad-Mahari and Bet-Abgalaj.
(2) i. e. such as are
slaughtered at weddings and funerals. for his family.
(3) for his family.
(4) i.e. supplicant.
(5) i. e. in the huge back of
his stone seat, and used to lay his ear to this hole in order to
listen.
(6) i. e. "the Borer", from the
verb 'terke(tigr alphabet) to bore.
(7)i. e. the tongues of the
cattle which be slaughtered at weddings, funerals or the like.
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many cows for him(1), about
thirty; and, that be might send their tongues to Zenij, he said:
»Bring them hither», and counted them. But there was lacking one
tongue, and when (Zenaj) had it searched for, his slave-girl had
just then, by mistake, put it into the pot. And they took it up out
of the pot, and Mahari sent it, together with the others, to Zenaj.
When the tongues came to Zenaj and he saw the marks of the warm
water on the one, he said: »Mahari has had the tongues cooked, with
the purpose of eating them up. Well then, let the tongue not say: 'I
have not been eaten'; and the wretched Mahari: '1 have not
eaten'»(2). And the bearer informed Mahari saying:
»Thus and thus said Zenaj to
thee». When Mahari heard this, he was afraid and thought: »So Zenaj
contemplates making an end of me». Afterwards, thinking: »I shall
make an end of himinstead of his making an end of me», he moved on
to the regions of Sahar and Engana. To the men of the regions he
said: »Come with me, and I will lead you to plunder cattle which
have not an owner». And they followed him with their horde. When,
showing them the way, he approached the village, and had said to
them: »Wait here for me, until I have moved away my possessions, and
tomorrow, plunder», he gave them a guide to Zenaj's quarter.
Thereupon he went to his own part, and moved it away. The following
day he went to Zenaj, and, in order that the latter should not flee
when he caught sight of the crowd, he said to him: »Stand up for
me!(3)» And Zenaj arose for him. And after they had gone a little
way from the village, they settled themselves to converse in secret,
and, that Zenaj should not look in the direction from which the
horde was to come, Mahari seated himself on the opposite side, and
Zenaj sat turned towards Mahari, and Mahari looked in the direction
of the horde.
While they sat speaking
together in secret, a viper came (creeping) between them both, and
it was about to go towards Zenaj. Mahari, however, noticed it first.
And that Zenaj should not see the horde and
Footnotes
(1) Here it is the custom to
cut the tendons on the hind legs of the cows with a sword, after
which they are allowed to stand for several hours, bleeding and
suffering. This cruel practice is now disappearing.
(2) The meaning is: »Mahari is
intending to escape from paying me tribute, hut I shall not permit
it».
(3) The usual form for saying:
»Let me speak with you».
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flee, in case he observed the
serpent and turned around, Mahari quietly stamped on it with the
sandal he had on his foot. And while they sat there, the horde came
and killed Zenaj, and plundered his villige, and killed his people,
and having seized his cattle, returned to their (own) tracts. Thus
Zenaj met his death,
through this.
Of his descendants who fled,
one betook himself to the northern land, and lived there and left
some seed, and these his seed went over to Islam and live even to
this very day as dependants and as Islams. Another fled to Kabasa
and there took a wife and begat children. And when Mahari and his
kinsmen had destroyed Zenaj, he succeeded to this land. The land
belonged, from former times, to Zenaj; he was created with it. The
descendants of Mahari multiplied and became mighty.
Afterwards Ada, son of Gäbres
of the family of Mahari, came as guest to Kabasa. A mother to them
who are born from the seed of Zenaj (then) grasped Ada by his hand
and foot and said to him: "1 beg thy protection for these my
children, that they may inhabit Hajgat, and they demand nothing of
thee, make them only thy dependants». And he replied: »Good, now I
shall take counsel with my kinsman Täsfamkel, on this matter.» After
he had gone down to his land again, he related this to Tästfamkel,
who said to him: »Let therm come». Then Ada said to them: »Come».
Thus they gave to Ada the right of patronage over them, which
reinains to the present time. The survivors, it is true, did not
inherit any of Zen's or Zenaj's land, but Mahari's house gave them a
part of it. And in order that they should not kill them, it was
forbidden to touch them, and even to the present day the descendants
of Zen and Mahari have no connection with one another and do not
intermarry, and this has become in established custom. The daughters
of the offspring of Mahari, i.e. the Mänsa girls, swear by them (the
descendants of Zen), saving: »This is my Zenaj,»(1) and the
daughters of Zen swear, saying: "This is my Mänsaaj(2).» And thus
they are, even to the present time, forbidden one another.
Footnotes
(1) i. e. »as a man of the
house of Zen is forbidden me, let this be forbidden me».
(2) i. e. »as a man of the
house of Mänsa is forbidden me, let this be forbidden me».
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And furthermore, in recompense
to (the descendants of) Zen (or Zenaj), they established the
following custom: When they (Mänsas) give their daughters away in
marriage, it is those (Zens) that build the nuptial hut,(1) and
formerly the Mänsas used to give them a heifer of the cows following
with the wedding gift.(2) But now they give to the Zens a thaler M.
T. from the wedding gift and a bowl of porridge, i. e. it is the
girI's father who gives it to them, and (the descendants of) Zen
give their blessing in return. But all these customs apply only to
those descendants of Zen who came (and still come) from Kabasa. They
have no reference to those who went over to Islam in former times
(as related). And they are called the Christian Zens and the
Mohammedan Zens.
